Starting a Small Home Business

Getting on the Right Track From the Start

February 16th, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized — Small Home Business Author

Reading the statistics on business start up can be a frightening experience if a tad worrying. Statistics show that about half of all new UK small business start-up companies fail within the first 3 or 4 years, a staggering sum. The figures for the US are a little better. The reasons for failure are varied and often unquantifiable, however, what is clear is that business growth is very much down to the self-limiting factors exhibited by the people running small businesses.

Whether it’s cash flow (a sales problem really), or management ability (probably), it doesn’t really matter. The problem is often internal and I mean in the start up owners mind. There are no definitive rules for successful start-ups but perhaps the points offered below may help if you are thinking about starting a business shortly.

1. The successful start up sees the ‘end result’ right from the beginning. It will know what the business will look like in five years time. Every day the business owner will focus on that vision and change the business to meet the achievement of that vision. The average start up concentrates on the product and how much of that product will be delivered each day. In turn it focuses the owners mind on that day and little further.

2. The successful start up sees the business as a vehicle for delivering results to the customer and thereby profits for business development. The start up sees the business as a place to derive lots of income for the owner.

3. The successful start up recognises great customer service will be delivered by the people it hires. He/she then hires the best, most innovative people in their field. The average start up doesn’t hire people full stop if it can help it. If he/she does they control, manage and restrict the abilities of those people. Then wonder why “it’s just easier if I do it myself syndrome” kicks in.

4. The successful start up owner will rarely make decisions on his/her own. They will normally be a process laid out for critical decision-making that involves all the team. The average start up owner will see him/herself as the expert business person, making all the big decisions with little consultation.

5. The successful start up takes each step knowing that it is going to lead to the ‘end result,’ adjusting, making changes to ensure that ‘end result’ is not compromised. The average start up business takes steps not knowing possibly where they are going to end up and then wonder why they get distracted a lot of the time. They will often justify this by saying ‘it will come right in the end.’

6. The successful start up is very much about generating ideas and then implementing them, executed in a systematic way. These types of start up are always looking to improve things, always asking questions and finding the answers. The average start up maintains the status quo and then wonders why they never grow.

7. The successful start up looks at the horizon everyday focused on the vision, the average start up looks at his/her navel ensuring routine is the order of the day.

8. The successful start up owner is doing it because they love what they do and want to share that with their people and customers. The average start up owner is doing it because their ego has run away with itself.

9. The successful start up is driven by the challenge that everyday brings the certainty that everything is uncertain, the need to change regularly with marketplace demands. They have fun, work hard but feel rewarded and recognised knowing their amazing reputation is growing each day. The average small business hides in a cupboard, threatened by change, product orientated unable to listen to customers, frightened by their peoples ideas, still thinking they know best.

10. The successful start up business has a leader at the helm who occasionally displays management behaviour. They have a clear vision of the destination and route map everyone is following because they feel engaged. The average start up has a manager steering the team in a direction that has purpose but only him/her knows about it.

11. The successful start up owner is most definitely a leader, often a marketer, sales person and able to bring in people to fill their skills gap. They know that possibly they are the worst person to be MD. Whilst the average start up owner is typically product obsessed, still developing things they think the market will want to definitely be MD.

There are more I’m sure. The point is this, it’s not easy, in fact, it’s a hard choice to make but once you’ve made it, you either pursue it with vigour and determination or don’t start it in the first place. It’s a journey not a hundred metre sprint and the ‘end result’ when you get there will look very dissimilar to what you imagined, but, at least you got there.

You do reap what you sow. I’m not talking about long-winded business plans here, far from it. Having a clear idea what you want the damn thing to be and look like is pretty crucial. Reinforcing, inspiring and motivating your people and your customers towards that ‘end result’ is possibly your most important role.

Success does not happen overnight, in fact, it seldom does. It’s fundamental to learn quickly how to hold your nerve when things are a bit scary. It’s the difference between surviving those moments when most ‘ordinary’ people would give up. Or, plunging yourself into the behaviours associated with the average small business. Remember perseverance is incompatible with failure.

Ann Holman has been working with small and medium sized enterprises for the last 13 years where she has developed a sound insight into what makes business successful using simple, yet practical ideas and methods that can be implemented easily back in the workplace.
She is renowned for her energetic and inspirational approach, and is building a reputation for not only designing training solutions that have a lasting impression but also delivering in an engaging and humorous manner.

Her seminars strip away the hype, get rid of buzzwords and deliver practical, action orientated ideas for small businesses. She offers some new ideas and inspires you to think differently about the way you do business. It’s about sound advice, better decision making and leading edge thinking.

An author of several e-books, Ann is currently working hard on her blog and writing her first hard copy business book due for launch in 2010.